


A Thing For Birds/The Feel Of Feathers

by Drearee



Category: Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Author questions sanity, Falco is a tsundere no matter what anyone says, I can't tag all of smash bros im lazy I know, Link is sad, M/M, Pining like a sap, Sappy like a Pine, nothing innapropriate happens you pervs, semicrack treated seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-04-08 01:58:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19097440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drearee/pseuds/Drearee
Summary: The first thing Link thought of when he saw fellow Smasher Falco Lombardi was, "Is that a Rito?" Followed by "Is thatmyRito?" Followed by the slight dissapointment that it wasn't in fact his Rito. Or a Rito at all, for that matter. No matter how he tried though, he couldn't get the ghostly feeling of running his fingers through a head of feathers to go away.





	1. Dear Hylia; I've fallen and I can't get up

**Author's Note:**

> For god's sake don't take this too seriously guys this is gonna be like my SNT fic but longer, sappier, and with barebones plot chowder stirred in for extra flavor. Also I barely know the plot of any Starfox games I just watch playthroughs and letsplays please go easy on me. I'm a simple girl. I see a boy who lost his Bird Boyf and I want That Boy to stop being sad so I get him a New Bird Boyf.

_**"WELCOME, OLD AND NEW FIGHTERS TO SUPER SMASH BROTHERS**_ **ULTIMATE!"** A booming voice announced to the crowded assembly hall. Said crowd cheered, but among the more subdued was Link. He wouldn't consider himself a 'new fighter', far from it actually. Even after defeating the Calamity Ganon, monsters still roamed freely about Hyrule. He had taken it upon himself to exterminate the pests, for the sake of rebuilding the great kingdom of a hundred years ago.

This tournament?  _That_ was definately new. He had the grace of meeting other incarnations of himself, both great warriors who had saved their times at the ages of nine and eleven respectively. It was an amazing thing, that past versions of himself could save the world at such young ages. He'd be sure to treat the two boys with the utmost respect. Apparently he himself had replaced yet another Link, who had grown tired of this 'Smashing' thing and wanted to return home to his horse and goats. There were also two different Zeldas, one of which fought by the name of 'Sheik' and the other a fellow newbie to the tournament. He and that Zelda stuck to eachother like glue, as he supposed most Links and Zeldas should. There was one last fighter from Hyrule, an imposing man named Ganondorf. Upon asking Sheik, he learned that the man was the King of the Gerudo, and the form of the great evil before it had cast away eternal reincarnation. The king made it clear that he wouldn't go easy on him, and he was instantly reminded of the fierce desert women he had met on his journey. Especially of Chief Urbosa. He missed her.

He missed all the champions. Urbosa was strong and protected them all like a mother. Daruk wasn't much better, fathering them like his life depended on it. Mipha had more than her fair share of caring bones in her body. Then there was Revali... he'd never admit it, but Link liked to think Revali cared the most.

Hopefully, about him.

Across the assembly room, seated with the other, more technologically advanced groups, was Falco Lombardi. Link recalled the moment he met the Arwing pilot, when he first arrived at the tournament. The living quarters were arranged by what land each fighter hailed from, with the "Star Fox" fighters right down the hall from the Hyruleans, inbetween them and the fighters from the Mushroom Kingdom. Link had been taking pictures on his Sheikah Slate to bring back to his Zelda, and was going through the photos when he ran into the bird.

Literally, of course.

Both of them were equally at fault, What with Link's nose being buried in his slate and Falco equally invested in his communicator, Link still felt the need to apologize profusely. Luckily for him, the pilot reciprocated, albeit more flippantly. The two got talking (or rather, Falco talking and Link nonverbally responding with nods and expressions), and Link was reminded greatly of the Rito champion. Before long, Link had opened his slate's album to a selfie he took with Fyson, Greyson, and Pelison at the reception of Hudson and Rhondson's wedding, happy couple talking with Kapson in the background. After a great deal of pointing between Fyson and Falco, it was confirmed that no, he and the Rito were  _not_ distantly related thank you very much. Link and the Cornerian eventually ended their conversation with the promise to show no mercy on the battlefield and a firm handshake. Falco's hands were feathery and soft, Link noticed.

He debated not washing his hand for the rest of his life, for fear of losing the feeling. He decided against it, for he was a civilised man no matter how many times he'd resort to setting the grass on fire or shoveling raw food into his mouth in the heat of battle. A civilised man. Yup.

Link was brought out of his reverie by Zelda, tapping him on the shoulder. He promptly sat upright and looked around, half reaching for the Master Sword currently not strapped to his back. Admittedly, he felt a bit naked without it.

"I didn't think you were the type to fall asleep with your eyes open." The princess giggled, hiding her grin behind a manicured hand. Her voice was louder than his Zeldas, and had a strange accent. Or maybe it was his Zelda that had the accent. He didn't use his voice often, but would he have an accent? "The speech ended a while ago. Almost everyone else has left already."

Sure enough, there were only a few groups of fighters left, idly chatting and promising to beat eachother up real good. Two men with whips and axes were talking to a man with abnormally spiky hair and an even bigger sword, a talking blue hedgehog thing was taunting one of the Smash veterans (a plumber named Mario, Link believed), Young Link (the nine-year-old) being entusiastically talked at by a group of weird squid children in a strange language, and a woman in an outfit Link didn't feel too comfortable looking at fawning over Kirby, a little pink puffball friend Link had met on a midnight excursion to the kitchen. The two had made enough food to feed several armies and polished it off in seconds. He hoped to join the Hero of Pop Star again in the kitchen. The little guy knew how to cook.

Link waved an apology to Zelda, and she smilled good-naturedly.

"Come on, there's talk of a competition in something called 'Table Tennis' being held in the game room. We should check it out!" Link nodded, and the two began the not at all long and absolutely not treacherous walk to the fabled 'game room'.

Upon arriving, they saw everyone in the room gathered around a table, an unassuming boy with black hair and plaid pants using a paddle to hit a small plastic ball over a net running across the table to a very physically fit woman with brown hair and paper-white skin, whom also weilded a paddle. The crowd shuffled to let Link and Zelda in. So this was the mythical 'Table Tennis'. Truly, a game of kings. The game ended when the boy failed to return the ball three times in a row. Everyone clapped calmly for the victor as his little cat companion thing patted him sympathetically on the knee.

"You'll get 'em next time, Joker." The boy shook his head and walked away, leaving the paddle on the table as the crowd parted to let him pass. 

"Would anyone else care to join me?" The woman asked, stretching her arms over her shoulders. "Table Tennis is a great way to train your hand-eye coordination." A bangled hand shot up from the crowd.

"Me! Me!" A boy with angel wings cried out as he wormed his way to the table.

"Don't hurt yourself out there, Pitstain." a similar looking boy called after him snidely.

"Ha ha, very funny Pittoo!" The first angel shot back to an indignant cry somewhere along the lines of 'Stop calling me Pittoo!' He picked up the paddle as someone picked the ball up off the floor and passed it to him. "Ready when you are!" He told his opponent.

"Let's begin." She replied, preparing herself as the boy served the ball. Zelda nudged Link.

"How exciting!" She said, and Link nodded in agreement when the woman next to him spoke.

"Not really. There's always some silly competition like this on the first day back." She reached out her hand, and both Link and Zelda shook it. "Name's Samus Aran. You're the new Link and Zelda, right?"

"That's us, I suppose!" Zelda replied. "How peculiar, to think that there were us, before, well, us!"

"You get used to crazy things happening around here. Hope you two are ready." Samus remarked casually. Link nodded. Zelda made fists and shadowboxed playfully.

"If this game is any indicator of their fighting skill, we're ready to give our all!" She and Samus shared a laugh.

"I'm thinking of blowing this pop stand and getting a drink. You guys in?" Samus asked.

"I'd be delighted! Are you coming too, Link?" He shook his head no and pointed his thumb back at the table, where things were getting heated, to say that he was going to stay and watch the game. "I see. I'll see you later, then!"

"Nice meeting you, kid." Samus said as she and the princess walked away. Link waved to them as they left, before returning to the game. The woman had bested the angel twice, as the angel did her. It was the death match between the two and stakes were high. What the stakes were, Link didn't know, but it made him hungry so he decided to stop thinking about it.

Time seemed to slow as the angel boy hit the ball, bouncing it over the net and too close to the woman's shoulder for her to react in time. The ball harmlessly hit the floor.

"I won? I won!" He cheered as the woman was pat on the shoulder by a man that looked similar to her. Link joined the crowd in polite applause as the two shared their 'good game's. "Who's next?" He asked as a young man in a red outfit with a rather impressive sword passed the ball to him.

"I'll bite." A voice from the back replied. Links eyebrows raised when Falco stepped forward and took up the paddle. He didn't know Falco was even in the room, or that he was even interested in the competition.

"Good luck, Falco! You'll be needing it!" The angel taunted, bouncing the ball off the table towards the avian, who caught it singlehandedly and prepared to serve.

"Me? Needing luck? Not in your dreams, kid!" Falco shot back before serving, and the game was underway. The first round seemed to last forever to Link, who was getting invested. The tables finally turned when Falco's shot hit the table and bounced over the angel's head, who was only watching his sides. Link clapped with some of the others as the ball was fetched off the floor.

Several minutes later, Falco ended up winning three to one, and Link decided he wanted to try playing against him. He walked up, grabbed the paddle, and accepted the ball when it was passed to him.

"Well look who we got here!" Falco crowed, soaking up the energy from his victory like a sponge. "You think you can take me, picture boy?" Link smirked. He had Purah transfer most of his pictures onto paper long before he came here. He served the ball, starting the match.

Link was sweating by the time the second round started, having missed a shot aimed for his left. He greatly underestimated how much focus it took to play this table game. He took a deep breath, and time seemed to slow as it did when he was freefalling and shooting a bow. He took careful aim, and sent the ball straight over his opponent's arm into the crowd. He grinned, fully enjoying himself. He lost himself in the game, managing to pull the same maneuver for a second win. He grew confident, and began wondering if he would win.

He didn't win. Falco caught on to what he was doing and stopped giving him the opportunity. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he set the paddle down and moved back towards the slowly diminishing cluster of fighters in the game room, but not before Falco moved in for another handshake and a cocky comment on how Link  _almost_ beat him, but didn't. Even slightly damp with sweat, his feathers were still soft.

He went through the same dilemma of washing his hands again. He gently reminded himself that he was civilised by making a point of not thinking about how soft Falco's feathers were.

Falco went on to win one more match against Bowser, before being overthrown by Dedede, who cheated by using his hammer. Meta Knight beat Dedede for the sake of Table Tennis justice, before he was defeated by Daisy, who then was beaten by Pikachu somehow, who let Pichu win. By that point the crowd was almost gone completely and everyone was tired, so they just crowned the baby mouse the undefeated Table Tennis champion and carried him off to bed before he fell asleep on the table. At that point, the nice little yellow dog lady Isabelle encouraged everyone to go to bed as well, as the actual fights were to start the following day. Link walked through the halls with Falco on the way back to their suites, letting the bird boast while he listened intently. Falco did remind him so much of Revali. Thankfully they reached their separate rooms before Link could get too sad, and they exchanged their goodbyes. Link made it to his bed before kicking his boots off and falling face first into the soft covers.

'Revali's feathers were soft too.' He thought.


	2. Curry For What Ails You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fights begin, but Link is more than a little distracted.

It had taken Link a little while to get used to how the fighting system worked, but he figured it was like how he could teleport to and from the shrines, towers, and Divine Beasts using his slate. Just without the shrines. Or Divine Beasts. Or his slate. There was one stage designed to look like a tower however. He appreciated the act to make him feel more at home.

Close combat fighting from the towers was a little different, to say the least. He had been slashed at, shot at, and Falcon-Punched mercilessly. Kirby ate him once. He was a little miffed at what his new friend had done, but it was all in good fun. Supposedly. He had no choice but to show just as much vigor and prove himself. After a full day of Smashing, Link had a comfortable twelve to five win-loss ratio under his belt, and he was _spent._

At first he just wanted to go back to his room and sleep, but an audible roar from his stomach and the good-natured teasing of the others stepping away from the showers led him to the kitchen first. He ran into the Joker kid, and the boy shared an amazing drink called 'Coffee' with him. He needed the recipie. After some talking, Link learned about some of the struggles Joker and some of the other smashers had been going through. Apparently the 'DLC' fighters had to wait until some paperwork went through in order to fight in the tournament. Joker himself wasn't too worried, but the potted plant that had been sitting in the lobby wanted blood and a bear-bird duo that had been waiting a while to join were a little dissapointed they had to wait longer. Link wished them luck before downing the coffee in one gulp like it was an elixer and standing to make a large batch of curry. Maybe he'd share.

At that moment, a large group of smashers walked in, talking loudly among themselves. In the crowd, Link spotted Falco and almost dumped his entire bottle of monster extract into the pot.

What? He liked the extra kick.

As he recovered himself and his cooking he thought to how Revali had that same effect on him. It was the way the champion carried himself, in that sure confidence that Link wished he had. The memories of the marksman Link had recovered were wonderful, the feelings behind them bittersweet. At first, Revali had a genuine dislike of him. Then he grew to accept Link, which became a fondness for the hero chosen by the sword. Link treasured the moments he had remembered, even the ones where Revali was more than a little rude.

Of course, then the Calamity happened. And Link couldn't save him. It had taken him until he reached Tabantha to remember his bird, and it was like losing him all over again. There hadn't been time for pleasantries with any of the Champions' spirits after he calmed their beasts, after all the Calamity roared just as restlessly as it had a century ago, but during the lonely nights with only his horse for company he couldn't say he was capable of staying dry-eyed.

But that was the past. The Calamity was over, the spirits of his fallen friends and lover were able to move on, and the princess was freed from reigning in a hundred years' worth of dark magic. All was right in Hyrule.

The same could not be said for Link, unfortunately.

As he was thinking of his emotional state, Link's body had stopped dead, lost in thought once again. As such, he was only brought back by the smell of burning curry. Snapping back to action before committing the serious misdeed of ruining food (he had indeed learned his lesson with dubious food), Link thoughtlessly reacted, grabbing the pot off the burner with reflexes to rival the hedgehog.

Near-barehanded.

He had suffered worse burns during his adventure, of course. There was one funny story about a silver Lynel, three octorok, and a member of the Yiga clan, but as soon as he recovered his precious food he took his gloves off to survey the damage.

Sure enough, his fingers had already begun to redden and swell. It wouldn't be long before it started to blister. Adrenaline kept most of the pain away, but fighting like this would still be a bad idea. He winced, putting out the fire on the stove and cautiously replacing his gloves. He went ahead and served himself a generous portion, his food always healed him at least a little, but there were always instances where only Mipha's Grace could one hundred percent fix him up.

His curry was still good, thank Hylia. He was  _this_ close to just shoveling it all into his mouth like a bokoblin, but he managed to keep some semblance of manners. He had just finished his meal and was examining his hands while he debated going after seconds when someone he was thinking of far too much in the past day or two interupted his train of thought.

"Geez, picture boy, what'd ya do to your hands?" Falco commented, leaning over to stare at Link's digits from across the table.

Link raised his hands to wave off the bird, tell him  _'Don't worry about it'_ but he winced as he stretched a digit just a hair too far and felt the pain re-bloom across his palm. Falco huffed and shook his head, barely holding back a smirk.

"You join a fighting tournament, battle all day without getting banged-up, then manage to burn your hands." He chuckled. "Only you, blondie." Link shrugged, putting his hands down and averting his eyes while praying to every diety he knew of that his face wouldn't flush. Or if he did, that Falco wouldn't notice. Either way, no blushing was mentioned and time moved on, Link moving to consume his second plate of food before it got too cold. The spoon was starting to feel a little uncomfortable in his hand, but the aspect of recovering some health propelled him forward.

Besides, he liked his curry.

Falco watched as Link put away the food in seconds like it was nothing, reaching out to stop him as the hylian moved for a third plate.

"Link, you gotta go to the clinic." He said, gripping Link's wrist as gently as he could without letting him get away. Link wouldn't have pulled away from his grip if it meant he got to feel his hands again, but he didn't know that. "You know how to get there from here, right?" 

Link did not. He grinned sheepishly. Falco sighed. "Didn't you go on that tour of the mansion for the new fighters?" Link didn't know how to convey  _'I got bored and left'_ so he settled for shrugging. Falco let go to pinch the bridge of his beak.

"What are we gonna do with you, huh?" He stood, motioning for Link to follow him "Come on, i'll show you the way there." The two walked out of the kitchen and through the halls in amiable silence, though in the flourescent lighting (which he was still marveling over), he could have sworn that Falco was the same shade of blue as his Revali in the early morning sunlight at the flight range. He knew, deep down, that Revali could never be replaced. It just felt so nice, remembering how it felt to be with him. Link had been a little sensitive to touch back when he first woke up, and it wasn't like any of the village rito would just up and hold his hand, so Link wanted to soak up that feeling for as long as he could. Falco led him into the clinic, where a line had already formed. One of the pokemon trainers cradled her squirtle in her arms, as it began sneezing violently. She managed to hold a towel to its nose as it expelled water, thankfully protecting the two squid creatures behind her, the orange one and the pink one. Their hair tentacles had managed to suction and intertwine with eachother as the girls attached were beet red and staring at the floor. And behind  _them_ was the lobby piranha plant, who had something large and vaguely chair-looking lodged in their mouth.

"Looks like you might be a while." Falco remarked, moving to leave. "See ya." Link waved goodbye, and got behind the plant. Sure the wait was long, but it gave him time to think. Although by the time he was wrapped up and given an ointment to reapply once he changed his bandages he was  _exhausted._ He crept back to his room like a waterlogged chuchu and once more flopped onto his bed, thoughts still swirling.

'Maybe I just have a type.' Link thought as he kicked off his boots, not even bothering to change his clothes. He smiled to himself as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna tag the Star Fox series 'cause again, I know next to jack diddly, but also because the whole fic is gonna be from Link's POV. If anyone thinks I should tag it anyway let me know and i'll probably do it, i'm not getting paid but it's still a consumer market y'know. You give the public what they want. I'd appreciate it if yall commented, but you don't gotta if you don't wanna. I respect whatever.  
> Also Fun Fact: I didn't need to look up Web MD for Link's burns cause I did the same damn thing to my thigh. Long story, involves a lighter. Got infected. Managed to ease it down with only neosporin and aloe. Wild ride. Link gets some of that Special Doctor Mario Good Stuff though so he gets away with minimal damage. He also had fingerless gloves so that's another layer of me not killing him. Meanwhile I get a scar on my thigh. Pro tip; don't pop the blister. I know you wanna and the fact that there is a Bubble Of Mystery Liquid inside your skin is a wild sack of hell no, but if you're like me and don't like going to hospitals it's for the best.


End file.
